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The Queen's Prime Ministers
The Princes Elizabeth Mary Alexandra was born April 21, 1926 to the Duke and Duchess of York. Her grandfather, King George V was the reigning Monarch and her grandmother was Queen Mary. As a child she saw two Prime Ministers serve her father, then later her uncle, Edward VIII: * Stanley Baldwin (November 4, 1924 - June 5, 1929; Conservative Party) * Ramsay MacDonald (June 5, 1929 - August 24, 1931; Labour Party/August 24, 1931 - June 7, 1935; National Labour Party) Stanley Baldwin was returned to office on August 24, 1931; during his second term as Prime Minister, King Edward VIII abdicated; Baldwin managed the abdication crisis, which resulted in Elizabeth's father's accession as King George VI. While first in line to the throne, Princess Elizabeth saw four Prime Ministers serve her father, among them her father's favorite, Winston Churchill in his first term as PM. King George VI |} As Queen Elizabeth II |} ! colspan=2 | Portrait ! Name Honorifics & Constituency (Birth–Death) ! colspan=2 | Term of office Electoral mandates ! style="width:25%;"| Other ministerial offices held whilst Prime Minister ! Political party ! Government ! Monarch (Reign) ! Ref |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=4 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=4 | | rowspan="4" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable Winston Churchill MP for Epping (1874–1965) | nowrap="nowrap" | 10 May 1940 | nowrap="nowrap" | 23 May 1945 | rowspan="3" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister of Defence – Leader of the House of Commons until 1942 | style="background:#def;" rowspan="3"| Conservative | style="background:#ddd;"| Churchill War (All parties) | rowspan=4 | |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" | 23 May 1945 | nowrap="nowrap" | 26 July 1945 | style="background:#ddd;" rowspan="2"| Churchill Caretaker (Cons.–Lib.Nat.) |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | — |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| World War continues; formed military alliances with both the US and the Soviet Union, and reactively declared war on Fascist Italy and Japan (while successfully leading an all-party War Coalition). United Nations founded, replacing the LN; proposed what would eventually lead to the European Union (EU); Beveridge Report and Butler Education Act. Following the VE Day celebrations, Churchill formed a caretaker ministry of Conservatives, Liberal Nationals and independent ministers; it was subsequently defeated after two months. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable Clement Attlee MP for Limehouse until 1950 MP for Walthamstow West from 1950 (1883–1967) | nowrap="nowrap" | 26 July 1945 | nowrap="nowrap" | 26 October 1951 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister of Defence during 1945–1946 | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Labour | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Attlee | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | * 1945 * 1950 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Victory over Japan ends the World War; Potsdam Conference; post-war consensus established; introduced nationalisation of the Bank of England and utilities; foundation of the National Health Service; extended National Insurance scheme; economic austerity, characterised by continued and deepened wartime food and fuel rationing; independence of India; end to the UK role in Palestine; foundation of NATO; beginning of the Cold War; Berlin Blockade and the resulting Airlift; National Service Act 1948 reinstates conscription; devalued the pound by 30%; failure of the East Africa Groundnut Scheme; start of UK involvement in the Korean War. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable [[Winston Churchill|Sir Winston Churchill]] MP for Woodford (1874–1965) | nowrap="nowrap" | 26 October 1951 | id="Eliz. 2" nowrap="nowrap" | 6 April 1955 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister of Defence during 1951–1952 | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Conservative | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Churchill III | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | 1951 | style="white-space:nowrap;" rowspan="55"| Elizabeth II (1952–present) |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Last Prime Minister to be concurrently Minister of Defence. Domestic policy (notably end of rationing) interrupted by foreign disputes (Korean War; Operation Ajax; Mau Mau Uprising; Malayan Emergency). Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Having suffered a stroke in 1953, Churchill continued in office in the hope of achieving a summit with the new leadership of the USSR under Khrushchev, until finally resigning nearly two years later. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable [[Anthony Eden|Sir Anthony Eden]] MP for Warwick and Leamington (1897–1977) | nowrap="nowrap" | 6 April 1955 | nowrap="nowrap" | 10 January 1957 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Conservative | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Eden | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | 1955 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Oversaw Egyptian nationalisation of the Suez Canal, an action that sparked the Suez Crisis; Premium Bonds introduced. Resigned on grounds of ill health and having lost the confidence of his senior colleagues. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable Harold Macmillan MP for Bromley (1894–1986) | nowrap="nowrap" | 10 January 1957 | nowrap="nowrap" | 19 October 1963 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Conservative | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Macmillan | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | 1959 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| The UK applied to join the European Economic Community for the first time, the application split Conservatives and was vetoed by France; acceptance of Keynesianism; First Cod War; Rent Act 1957; "Wind of Change" speech; Notting Hill race riots and New Commonwealth immigration; opening of the BBC Television Centre; end of National Service; Beeching cuts begin; Night of the Long Knives; Cuban Missile Crisis; Profumo affair, following which Macmillan resigned due to ill health. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable [[Alec Douglas-Home|Sir Alec Douglas-Home]] Earl of Home until 1963 MP for Kinross and Western Perthshire from 1963 (1903–1995) | nowrap="nowrap" | 19 October 1963 | nowrap="nowrap" | 16 October 1964 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Conservative | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Douglas-Home | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | — |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Last Prime Minister to hold office by virtue of the House of Lords (was Lord Home upon appointment). Home renounced his peerage four days after being appointed to contest a by-election to the Commons. Oversaw the independence of colony Nyasaland; abolition of Resale Price Maintenance. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable Harold Wilson MP for Huyton (1916–1995) | nowrap="nowrap" | 16 October 1964 | nowrap="nowrap" | 19 June 1970 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service from 1968 | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Labour | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Wilson I | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | * 1964 * 1966 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Social policies encompassing the legalisation of abortion, abolition of capital punishment and decriminalisation of homosexuality. Colony Northern Rhodesia receives independence, and Rhodesian UDI; Wilson Doctrine; began depopulation of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago; adopted, but then abandoned, a National Plan for the economy; devalued the pound by 14%; foundation of the Open University; government disputes with trade unions over "In Place of Strife" and prices and incomes policy; ordered troops into Northern Ireland in response to start of Troubles. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable Edward Heath MP for Bexley (1916–2005) | nowrap="nowrap" | 19 June 1970 | nowrap="nowrap" | 4 March 1974 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Conservative | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Heath | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | 1970 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| U-turns over economic policy and intervention in industry; negotiated UK entry to the EEC; violence due to NI Troubles peaked (Bloody Sunday); completed Chagos Archipelago depopulation; Sunningdale Agreement; Three-Day Week; Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; introduction of VAT; Second Cod War. Called an early general election in an attempt to confront the National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) strike. Last unmarried Prime Minister. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable Harold Wilson MP for Huyton (1916–1995) | nowrap="nowrap" | 4 March 1974 | nowrap="nowrap" | 5 April 1976 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Labour | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Wilson II | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | * Feb.1974§ * Oct.1974 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| §Hung parliament. Ended dispute with the NUM (Social Contract negotiated with unions over the economy); Health and Safety at Work Act; renegotiated UK terms for EC membership and then won a 1975 referendum to validate entry; North Sea oil discovery; Third Cod War commences. Resigned due to ill health. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=3 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=3 | | rowspan="3" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable James Callaghan MP for Cardiff South East (1912–2005) | nowrap="nowrap" | 5 April 1976 | nowrap="nowrap" | 4 May 1979 | rowspan="2" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Labour | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="2"| Callaghan | rowspan=3 | |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 |— |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| International Monetary Fund loan to support the pound (1976 IMF Crisis); Third Cod War lost; Race Relations Act 1976; Lib–Lab pact; enacted a devolution proposal to Scotland and Wales, but insufficient referenda stopped them; breakdown of relations with unions and hence the Winter of Discontent. Was forced to call a general election after losing a vote of no confidence. To date, Callaghan is the only politician to have served in each of the Great Offices of State. (He is also the last armed forces veteran Prime Minister.) |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=6 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=6 | | rowspan="6" nowrap="nowrap" | The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher MP for Finchley (1925–2013) |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 style="font-size:85%" | Thatcher Premiership | rowspan="4" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#def;" rowspan="4"| Conservative | style="background:#def;"| Thatcher I | rowspan=5 | |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" rowspan="2"| 4 May 1979 | nowrap="nowrap" rowspan="2"| 28 November 1990 |- | style="background:#def;"| Thatcher II |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | * 1979 * 1983 * 1987 | style="background:#def;"| Thatcher III |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| First female Prime Minister. Thatcher extinguished the post-war consensus, and pioneered an ideology known as Thatcherism. Iranian Embassy siege; 1981 Irish hunger strike; Falklands War; sold council housing to tenants (Right to Buy); 1984–85 miners' strike; privatisation of many previously government-owned industries; decreased power of unions; negotiation of a UK rebate towards EC budget; Brighton hotel bombing (failed attempt to assassinate Thatcher); Sino-British Joint Declaration; Anglo-Irish Agreement; Westland affair; abolition of the Greater London Council; "Big Bang"; King's Cross fire; Section 28; Lockerbie bombing; Collapse of Communism; Community Charge (or poll tax) introduced, and subsequent rioting; Gulf War commences. Resigned after failing to win outright against a challenge to her party leadership. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=4 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=4 | | rowspan=4 | The Right Honourable John Major MP for Huntingdon (born 1943) | nowrap="nowrap" rowspan="2"| 28 November 1990 | nowrap="nowrap" rowspan="2"| 2 May 1997 | rowspan="3" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#def;" rowspan="3"| Conservative | style="background:#def;"| Major I | rowspan=4 | |- | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Major II |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | 1992 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Early 1990s recession; Operation Granby and the Downing Street mortar attack (Gulf War victory); Citizen's Charter; dissolution of the USSR (officially ending the Cold War); ratification of the Maastricht Treaty (and the Maastricht Rebels); annus horribilis for the Queen and forced exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (Black Wednesday) in 1992; Council Tax introduced; Downing Street Declaration (initiating the NI peace process); privatisation of British Rail. Major also introduced the National Lottery and permitted Sunday Shopping in 1994; the Cones Hotline in 1992 and the "Back to Basics" campaign in 1993; Dangerous Dogs Act. Lost the 1997 election in a landslide to Labour, ending 18 years of government by the Conservatives. To date, Major is the last non-graduate Prime Minister. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=5 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=5 | | rowspan=5 | The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP for Sedgefield (born 1953) |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 style="font-size:85%" | Blair Premiership | rowspan="3" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="3"| Labour | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="3"| Blair | rowspan=5 | |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" | 2 May 1997 | style="white-space:nowrap;" id="21st century"| 27 June 2007 |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | * 1997 * 2001 * 2005 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Soufrière Hills eruption (Montserrat); Hong Kong Handover (to China); death of Diana, Princess of Wales; independence for the Bank of England; Ecclestone tobacco controversy; Belfast Agreement; Human Rights Act; devolution to Scotland and Wales; House of Lords reform; minimum wage introduced; NATO bombing of Yugoslavia; fuel protests; creation of the Greater London Authority and Mayoralty of London; Freedom of Information Act; UK military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War; 2001 foot and mouth outbreak; 11 September attacks on the US; War in Afghanistan; 2003 invasion of Iraq (and the consequent Iraq War); tuition (top-up) fees introduced; Civil Partnership Act 2004; Constitutional Reform Act; 2005 London bombings; Cash for Honours; Identity Cards Act 2006. Resignation rumoured as an eventual result of a deal between himself and his chancellor (Gordon Brown). |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=5 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=5 | | rowspan=5 | The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (born 1951) |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 style="font-size:85%" | Brown Premiership | rowspan="3" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="3"| Labour | style="background:#fcc;" rowspan="3"| Brown | rowspan=5 | |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" | 27 June 2007 | nowrap="nowrap" | 11 May 2010 |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | — |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Glasgow Airport attack; misplacement of child benefit data; Donorgate; Northern Rock and other banks nationalised; ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon; 10p tax rate abolished; financial crisis of 2007–08; cannabis moved back to Class B; parliamentary expenses scandal; release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi; arrest of Damian Green; Chilcot Inquiry established. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=6 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=6 | | rowspan=6 | The Right Honourable David Cameron MP for Witney (born 1966) |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 style="font-size:85%" | Cameron Premiership | rowspan="4" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#def;" rowspan="4"| Conservative | style="background:#ddd;" rowspan="2"| Cameron I (Cons.–Lib.Dem.) | rowspan=6 | |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" | 11 May 2010 | nowrap="nowrap" | 8 May 2015 |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" | 8 May 2015 | nowrap="nowrap" | 13 July 2016 | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| Cameron II |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | * 2010§ * 2015 |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| §Hung parliament, forming the first coalition government since 1945. Bloody Sunday apology; Spending and Strategic Defence reviews (budget cuts to public services resulting in anti-austerity movement); 2010 student protests; Military intervention in Libya (Operation Ellamy); Alternative Vote referendum; Welfare Reform Act; Health and Social Care Act; 2011 riots; UK forces leave Iraq in 2011 and Afghanistan in 2014; veto of the European Fiscal Compact; London 2012 Summer Olympics; Belfast City Hall flag protests; same-sex marriage legalised; creation of the National Crime Agency; Woolwich attack; referendum on Scottish independence; privatisation of the Royal Mail; Westminster paedophile dossier; military intervention against ISIL in Iraq and in Syria (Operation Shader); European migrant crisis. Campaigned against Brexit after renegotiating the terms of Britain's membership of the EU in the 2016 referendum campaign; Chilcot Inquiry publishes findings. After a 52% majority voted to leave the EU, Cameron resigned. |- style="background:#eee;" | rowspan=6 style="background-Color: " | | rowspan=6 | | rowspan=6 | The Right Honourable Theresa May MP for Maidenhead (born 1956) |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 style="font-size:85%" | May Premiership | rowspan="4" class="nowrap" style="text-align:left; font-size:85%;"| – First Lord of the Treasury – Minister for the Civil Service | style="background:#def;" rowspan="4"| Conservative | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| May I | rowspan=6 | |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" | 13 July 2016 | nowrap="nowrap" | 9 June 2017 |- style="background:#eee;" | nowrap="nowrap" | 9 June 2017 | nowrap="nowrap" | Incumbent | style="background:#def;" rowspan="2"| May II (minority government) |- style="background:#eee;" | colspan=2 | * 2017§ |- | colspan="5" style="text-align:left;"| Established departments for Exiting the European Union and International Trade to deal with Brexit negotiations. 2017 Westminster attack; invoked Article 50 (the official mechanism for leaving the EU) nine months after the referendum; 2017 Manchester Arena bombing; June 2017 London attack. §Hung parliament following 2017 general election; Con–DUP pact. |}